


Supernatural 3.12 review

by yourlibrarian



Series: Supernatural Reviews [15]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Episode Review, Episode: s03e12 Jus In Bello, Gen, Nonfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 12:07:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30105714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourlibrarian/pseuds/yourlibrarian
Summary: Originally posted February 28, 2008.
Series: Supernatural Reviews [15]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2202249
Kudos: 1
Collections: March Meta Matters Challenge





	Supernatural 3.12 review

I thought this was pretty solid, especially since it was meant to be a mid-season episode, not the finale it almost was.

Had this been a season finale the ending would have been a bit anticlimactic. But otherwise it had a lot of elements going for it. For example, you have many of the recurring characters in this episode and a big showdown, with a number of issues unresolved –- Dean's deal, a showdown with Lilith, which way Ruby will jump, and, most importantly, which way will Sam?

The entrance into (one of) Bela's residences started me wondering how much of these two episodes were shot before they knew that this and Mystery Spot would be reversed in order. Specifically I was wondering how different Sam might be, but I think this follows well on the heels of that episode.

The episode did very well in presenting the unexpected. Although I felt a number of things did get telegraphed, they weren't done in an anvilicious way. The episode was off to a good start with the way the hunt for Bela led into the appearance of Henriksen. I was also intrigued that, as I hoped, the theft of the Colt was for something more than the usual profit. My immediate guess by episode's end is that Bela has stolen it for Lilith, except that Lilith doesn't seem the type to bargain. If Bela knew where the Winchesters were, I'd think Lilith would simply extract that from her and kill them rather than having the Colt stolen. So I'm guessing it's a different, Bela-centered storyline that will be coming up.

The scene with Henriksen and the local sheriff was nicely done as well, both in how it prepared Nancy (and us) for Sam and Dean's arrival and also in keeping with Henriksen's usual lack of consideration for anyone else, made the sheriff a more sympathetic figure. What interested me is how closely Henriksen was supposed to be mirroring Dean in this episode. This plan was made pretty plain when the two have their bonding scene, but until now it hadn't occurred to me that Henriksen's disdain for other law enforcement individuals is very much the same disdain Dean himself has for people he feels are just getting in his way, and who aren't as in-the-know as he is. The difference is that Dean has never had any authority in his life, whereas Henriksen has, by his own account, had it for at least 15 years and doesn't mind using it. Dean often has to play nicer by virtue of his weaker position.

The stumbling bit with Sam and Dean trying to sit down in the cell seemed a little needless but I suppose it was a moment of comic relief. Instead I thought it should juxtapose just how stymied Sam and Dean actually were in contrast with Henriksen's extraordinary measures. The brief focus on the Wanted poster as Henriksen calls Steven Groves was a nice touch, especially as it was followed by Dean's poster in Groves' office. What was also nice is how this call sets up Henriksen as sympathetic compared to his boss, especially as Dean digs using the same knife as Groves when he reminds Henriksen how he's failed before. Of course Henriksen isn't a fool, thankfully. He's quite ready to admit his own mistakes, but he also knows just how to get to Dean. Suggesting the two be locked up separately gets both their attention, as does bringing up John. I noticed all he had to do was suggest John molested him to get Sam sitting up and at attention –- whether because it also made him angry or whether because he knew Dean was about to go ballistic. I also liked how these early scenes set both Dean and Sam up wonderfully as well. Sam's silence, which in S1 might well have been done out of simple caution, seems here more to imply a thoughtfulness about what's happening. Dean, who would have been wisecracking all along, still has an edge here. He knows how much trouble they're in. Yet from the outside, without knowing them, Sam's silence could seem ominous and Dean's wisecracking, creepy. I really like how it was all played.

Should we assume "don't swing that way" simply means "no bondage"? 😉

Groves' arrival seems awfully quick, unless we assume that it's been some time since Henriksen called him and he was quite close. (Of course, if there was an FBI field office that close it begs the question why Henriksen didn't have his own team available to him but, whatever). The handoff of the paperwork was a good moment, and also kept Henriksen busy. What I liked about that bit –- aside from the locals enjoying his comeuppance –- was that it set up Henriksen as a by-the-book guy. Even though he seems to have been particularly obsessive in his pursuit of Sam and Dean, he's still a company guy, rather in the same way that Dean always followed John's orders. Both of them are good soldiers.

I suspected Groves was not what he seemed, especially the moment he walked into the holding area. You'd think he would be smart enough not to get that close to the cell, but of course, he doesn't care. The startling moment where he shoots Dean is unexpected, as is Sam's immediate reaction. Apparently all that time without Dean really honed him and it was great to see.

I'm assuming Reidy arrived with Groves, and the other people who were dead outside were the local officers and the pilot. The way events continued to move quickly with Reidy's attack and the panic in the office, built really well. It also set up Henriksen as the competent person we expect him to be, taking charge of the local situation in a way that –- this time -– is exactly what is needed. Even though he has to be just as thrown by the casualties, the lack of communication, and the mystery of what just happened in the holding cell, he projects self-assurance.

That little smile Dean gives Nancy as Sam pleads for a towel wouldn't have given me much confidence either. I actually expected Sam to grab her but I thought he was going to use her as a hostage. I didn't quite grasp where the rosary was but maybe that was the hands-chained-behind-bars-pickpocketing move.

The pacing of this episode was really good, with one thing moving swiftly into another. That Sam would have used the rosary as a way to make holy water; that their grabbing of Henriksen is set up by their conversation about possession; that Dean keeps trying for cool (after all, he doesn't remember the day when he discovered being hit by a car isn't that great) follows quickly enough that you don't have too much time to anticipate what will come next. The best thing about the "shot the sheriff" line was the return of the bitchface. Ah Sam, guess you're still in there too.

And once faced with evidence, Henriksen shows himself to be smart enough to go along rather than stubbornly dig in his heels, which I don't think is actually as likely as one would think. Of course, Nancy is predisposed to believe them and Amici is, I'm going to guess, too out of his depth to consider doing anything but follow the latest person in charge. Around this time I got a rather sinking feeling as to where Henriksen's storyline would end. For one thing, I couldn't see someone as principled as he was depicted, continuing to pursue Sam and Dean after this episode. And while I think it would have been awesome to have someone "in the know" in a position of authority, the other obvious move would be to give Henriksen a real sendoff in this episode. In fact, that was the main reason I started to suspect his death, was because of the way his character was being built up (more about this later). But his little "define okay" was yet another small touch, showing us that the character was quite rattled inside, despite his outward appearance.

Then there was the big reveal of the tattoos and the lingering question of when the two had them done. I don't think we saw that area of Sam's chest in Mystery Spot, and Dean was partially covered in 3.01 but I'm going to go with them getting tattooed after the gate was opened (in between S2 and S3). We know Sam didn't have it in Heart, which was well after his possession in "Born Under a Bad Sign". Why they didn't get it done then, I don't know, but I'm going to hope that given the war they were about to fight, that they weren't going to be taking chances on disposable charms. I did like Sam's quiet callback to it though with, "Not long enough."

I didn't have a problem with Amici accidentally damaging the salt line –- not knowing anything about it would make simple carelessness easy. What did bother me was the fact that when Dean ran back in through the double doors saying the demons were coming, those doors didn't seem to be protected, nor did anyone rush to do so. It was an unfortunate inconsistency in an otherwise well-structured episode. One might also think at the episode's end that the two would have salted both their door and window in the motel, yet Dean doesn't seem to have to break a line to let Ruby walk in.

I really enjoyed the Dean & Henriksen convo as they loaded guns. However it didn't seem likely to me. On the one hand, it was a great insight into Victor. On the other, I have a hard time seeing him being that candid with Dean. Even if he realizes Dean was right, I don't think he would like him. Right or wrong, I think his original image of Dean would persist, and even if he realizes Dean is not a savage killer, I don't think people's feelings about one another turn on a dime like that. For that matter, I'm not sure I see Dean as being that forgiving either. He has no love of law enforcement people and he (rightly) was afraid of Henriksen. I think he could be mature enough not to rub it in his opponent's face that he was wrong, but I don't think he'd be so ready to hold out a hand either. This strikes me as an idealistic scene, perhaps the only choice in this fast-moving episode to get some of Victor's POV across, but ultimately one which doesn't satisfy me on a character level. In example, Dean has learned that not all supernatural things are enemies or dangerous, and don't need to be killed, but that doesn't mean he trusts or likes them. If they're setting up a parallel between the two they need to remember that Dean doesn't lose his convictions easily, so there's no reason why Henriksen would. After all, the fact that demons are real and the two hunt them doesn't mean that Dean _isn't_ a killer or that he's not a criminal. Especially since this happens prior to Dean's objections about Nancy's death which is more likely to me to have started whittling away at his image of them. (Then again, Sam's lack of objection wouldn't have helped...) All in all, I'd love to have seen this develop slowly over repeated appearances.

For that matter, I could only see Henriksen suddenly seeing his life's work as "a waste of my damn life" if he was already pretty disenchanted with the job. I'm going to assume he was ready to walk away once he got Sam and Dean anyway, at least spiritually. Though, as he points out to Dean, he has nothing else to turn to either, so chances are he'd still die in the harness, even if he's as ready to quit as they've been.

I didn't expect it to be Ruby who took advantage of the salt opening. I also have to say I rather enjoyed her little rant with Sam. Let's face it, Sam and Dean haven't brought her anything but trouble up until that point, and having something that drives a bit of a wedge between the brothers is always interesting. Of course, there's a bigger wedge than Ruby in store –- namely her call to Sam to back her up on her word alone as she kills someone. It's another clear mirroring that after their tete-a-tete, Dean and Victor are more united in their point of view than Dean and Sam are. I like the way their talk in the hall is shot both close up and from a distance, though I sort of wish the distance shot had been staged with different blocking, to emphasize their division. And I was quite amused by Dean's caveat that it wasn't just killing an innocent person but someone who hadn't even been laid yet. One would expect him to have difficulty with that concept.

One thing I rather liked here was that they were able to solve their problem without Ruby's help at all (and without the Colt even). I did rather wonder though about the rapid-fire exorcism we've suddenly got going on, as well as why the demons didn't pin them to the wall when they first came in since apparently one of them could. But then I don't know why they broke the Devil's Traps either, you'd think they'd have used every advantage to whittle down the numbers.

I thought their idea to trap and exorcise the demons was nicely done, as well as Henriksen's idea to "kill" them (though that would involve several people keeping quiet, not just him). Given that the local news claimed 2 fugitives were killed and yet there were no bodies for Sam and Dean, I guess we're to assume that Henriksen had already called in his cover story and arranged for two additional bodies to be placed near the chopper remains. I can only guess that two of the possessed attackers (both male) had died, though really, how many people could substitute for Sam (who is apparently now known simply as the "tall one")?

Now for the negatives. I really see no reason that Victor had to die here. In fact, had it not been for SPN's unfortunate tendency to build up promising characters only to kill them off after 2-3 appearances, I would never have suspected it was going in that direction. I am stubbornly going to hope that Victor is not actually dead. After all if Sam and Dean's deaths were taken for granted, why not his? That white flash we saw couldn't have been the blast itself given that it would have blown up all the bodies, Lilith's included. Presumably he was still wearing the charm but that could have been removed and he could have been possessed. I'm going to hope so, anyway, because anything else seems a waste.

The other drawback is the tired trope about virginity and virtuousness. I like that Dean notes that he is virtuous, because while pretty flawed he certainly has them. And what he says about virginity could more appropriately be said about flawlessness –- there isn't anyone who can claim that. It seems to me that Ruby could simply have required a human sacrifice, and while Sam and Dean would no doubt have offered themselves, she wouldn't have allowed it to be either one of them, so that would have left one of the remaining three anyway. Are we to assume if Victor had offered himself, or Amici, that Sam or Dean would have been more willing to allow their deaths, even though Nancy was freely offering herself? I really don't like that implication.

That moment when Sam's luring Nancy to the cell was an uncomfortable moment, because even though I thought it very unlikely he'd actually hurt her, I wasn't sure what he might do. And that there was a real tension there told me that this arc they're building for Sam really is working. Also, I found it kind of disturbing the way everyone kept using her name "It's Nancy, right?"

I found her line about "But not with you" rather amusing because it seemed a very realistic thing to say in that moment. However given that it's implied her faith is the reason behind her virginity, I have to wonder how she could just decide like that that she's going to have lots of meaningless sex as soon as possible. If anything, her faith should have been reaffirmed in this experience -- it didn't seem to track to me.

In any case, I'm glad we're going to get more episodes this season, and not just because more episodes is always a good thing. But the ending where Ruby implies it was Dean's (not Sam's, after all) idea that got everyone killed and she is apparently still in their camp, seems very unfinished. I can understand her walking off and leaving them but not her return. After all, they were sure to hear about the explosion anyway, instead she came back to help keep them hidden. She must be pretty desperate. I'm also not sure we should take her word about being ready to die to help them win. I rather got the feeling this was another test of Sam. I guess we may yet find out before June.


End file.
